Ambridge boxing coach Tom Yankello training Roy Jones Jr. for comeback bout against Mike Tyson

For the past year and a half, professional boxing coach Tom Yankello has been using his World Class Boxing YouTube channel to create instructional videos for his subscribers.

His videos touch on different boxing techniques, like how to step while punching or how to defend and counter a right-hand jab. His channel has over 78,000 subscribers and a lot of his videos have garnered over 100,000 views.

Some of his most popular videos focus on Mike Tyson and the fighting style that he used during his illustrious career.

Yankello has broken down how Tyson shifts, switches and sets up, which collected 456,000 views, and he also put together a video explaining how to punch like Tyson that has 279,000 views.

Altogether, he’s created close to a dozen videos based on Tyson’s style, which means the longtime boxing coach who is based out of his gym World Class Boxing in Ambridge and is known for coaching the likes of Paul Spadafora, Verquan Kimbrough, Calvin Brock and Roy Jones Jr., knows the former heavyweight world champion’s game inside and out.

“I’ve been doing a lot of videos on his style. I know what the pros of his style are and what the cons are of his style,” Yankello said about his breakdown videos.

So when Tyson, 54, announced that he was making a comeback with a fight against Jones Jr., 51, back in July, Yankello immediately jumped at the opportunity to help his former fighter.

“I have been brainstorming on Tyson’s style for about a year and a half now, so I called Roy and I said, ‘Look, Roy, I can break this guy down better than anybody. I know you really well. We need to hook up for this fight,’” Yankello said. “That was it, and he said all right.”

Over the past week, Yankello has been in Pensacola, Fla., at Jones Jr.’s ranch, putting together a game plan for the eight-round exhibition bout that was originally set for Sept. 12 but has been pushed back to Nov. 28.

Yankello said it was good to get back into the swing of things with his former boxer as they developed a strategy, knocked off the rust and watched film in order to pick out the strengths and weaknesses of Tyson’s game.

“We were working on strategy and game planning how to nullify Mike Tyson’s strengths and take advantage of his weaknesses,” Yankello said. “We just wanted to tighten things up with what we’re doing on our end so the vice-versa doesn’t happen.”

Jones Jr. went 66-9 during his professional boxing career, recording 47 knockouts in 75 bouts. Yankello worked on and off with Jones Jr. from 2011-15, but when they picked up the mitts this past week, he said it was like nothing had changed.

“It was like riding a bike,” Yankello said. “When I came down here, everything just fell into place. We were studying the films, getting an eye on the game plan. So it’s been a really good fit and we’re looking forward to Nov. 28.”